CFBDSIR 2149-0403
| discovered by = Philippe Delorme, Jonathan Gagné, Lison Malo, Céline Reylé, Étienne Artigau, Loïc Albert, Thierry Forveille, Xavier Delfosse, France Allard and Derek Homeier | discovery_site = | discovered = | discovery_method = CFBDSIR wide field survey | alt_names = | periastron = | apoastron = | semimajor = | avg_speed = | eccentricity = | period = | inclination = | angular_dist = | long_periastron = | time_periastron = | semi-amplitude = | mean_radius = | surface_area = | volume = | density = | mass = 4–7 Jupiter masses | surface_grav = | escape_velocity = | albedo = | single_temperature = ~700 K | spectral_type = T7 }} CFBDSIR 2149-0403 (full designation CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9) is a free-floating planetary-mass object (87% likelihood) or low-mass brown dwarf (13% likelihood), likely part of the AB Doradus moving group (ABDMG) as indicated by its position and proper motion. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that CFBDSIR 2149-0403 formed as a planet and was subsequently ejected. Objects with masses similar to that of CFBDSIR 2149-0403 are predicted to form from the fragmentation of molecular cloud cores like stars do. Although there have been candidates for objects like this reported before, it is the first such object with a spectroscopic confirmation of its young nature and an upper limit on its estimated mass below 13 Jupiter masses. It must be noted that the estimation of its mass rely on its suspected membership in AB Doradus (which provides a distance and an age), as well as on the current generation of brown dwarfs evolutionary models. It is thus by no means a direct mass measurement. Discovery CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was discovered by the Canada-France Brown Dwarfs Survey, a near infrared sky survey, and confirmed by WISE data. Philippe Delorme, of the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France and his team, including researchers at Université de Montréal in Canada, detected CFBDSIR2149's infrared signature using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, then examined the body's properties with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Distance If this object is actually a rogue planet (which has not been decisively demonstrated), then it is among the closest that has ever been spotted. If the object belongs to the ABDMG then its distance is estimated to be 40±4 parsecs (130±13 light years) from Earth; other possible estimates range from 25 to 50 parsecs. A possibly closer candidate is PSO J318.5-22. Age In the discovery paper, CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was claimed to possibly be a kinematic member of the AB Doradus Moving Group. The AB Doradus Moving Group appears to be similar in age to the Pleiades, which has a Lithium depletion boundary age of 130+-20 Myr. If CFBDSIR2149 is indeed associated with the group — and researchers cite a nearly 90 percent probability — then the object is similarly young. The object also displays signs of low gravity (brighter K band in the near-infrared), which is attributable to youth. Atmosphere Spectroscopy observations have found absorption by gaseous methane and water. See also * GU Piscium b exoplanet orbiting GU Piscium at a distance of 2000 AU and period of 80,000 years in the AB Doradus moving group . Further reading * * References Category:Exoplanets Category:Free-floating substellar objects Category:Gas giants Category:CFBDS objects 20121114 Category:Planemos 130 Category:Rogue planets